Ripten Preview: Mario Kart Wii

Ripten writes: "Go ahead, make fun of the wheel. Nintendo doesn't care. In fact, it took only about ten minutes of playing Mario Kart Wii in an apartment common room for the first wide-eyed passerby to stop and ask if they could try. The wheel, like the balance board and the Wii's other knick-knacks, are practically free advertising.

But while non-gamers will likely see the wheel as a fun and accessible way to play Mario Kart, more experienced players will probably shun it almost immediately. After trying out all of the possible control combinations with the new motorcycles and older karts, I found myself moving back to the tried and true Gamecube controller relatively quickly. The wheel felt good in my hands, but it simply didn't feel like it offered the precision that I was looking for when it came to navigating the game's trademark pitfalls."